Together with Lighting Korea 2012 and Korea International Battery and Cell Show 2012, EV Korea 2012 was held in Gangnam District of Seoul, South Korea on Oct. 17th 2012. In other words, lighting, EV, and battery industries have been regarded as unity in Korea’s green energy. The EV exhibition focused on the large bus systems featuring battery replacement and built-in wireless charging technologies. Green energy products were shown as well, which were designed for household and industrial needs, and could be divided into two categories: items driven by city power or by renewable energy. The battery exhibition focused on the assembly part. All the main material systems used lithium iron materials except for Kokam series. The battery cells were mainly from China.

Picture 1 2012 EV Korea Coex Exhibition Venue

Source: EnergyTrend, EV Korea 2012

Large bus

In view of system demonstration, the largest transportation carrier in the exhibition was applied to the large bus system. Overall, it displayed the battery locations and charging patterns, both of which showed complete design concepts (Diagram 1).

Diagram 1 The Features of the Korea-made Electric Bus Shown in the Demonstration

KMTM demonstrated its Smart-e-Bus battery replacement system in the exhibition. The battery location was set on top of the vehicle (Picture 2), which could suit the space allocation of the current low-floor bus design as well as facilitate the battery replacement process in designated spots. The load limit for battery on the top was 1.5 ton. The total capacity of the battery could reach 84 kWh, and the replacement could be finished within one minute. KMTM currently cooperates with Korea’s PMGrow and Ener One for the battery section. The project is expected to introduce five buses in the second quarter of 2012 and to install two battery replacement stations. The electric lines will be deployed along the subway routes, which will facilitate the introduction of industrial electricity from the subway system, thus dispensing with the troubles of installing new electric lines and connecting to them.

Picture 2 Smart-e-Bus

The KAIST Institute in Korea also cooperates with Dongwon Olev to create a wireless charging system that can be used while vehicles are running. This helps to reduce the power consumption by five times. The system adopts the resonant power transmission system to transmit electricity via the receiving end installed in the center of the floor and the pre-embedded transmitting terminal on the ground. The resonant frequency can be controlled below 20 kHz in order to decrease its effect on human body. The transmitting terminal and the receiving end are spaced no more than 25 cm apart, which is wide enough to keep the passengers safe on the transport. This feature has been reported in the international edition and received tremendous attention.